Archives

As the Kings took the ice yesterday morning in El Segundo to start training camp, fans definitely discussed the absence of Drew Doughty. Everyone knew he wouldn’t be there, since his agent and Kings GM Dean Lombardi have yet to come to an agreement, but #8 was certainly talked about a lot yesterday. I realize he’s a great defenseman and definitely a key player, but I think fans should concentrate on those who WERE on the ice and be happy.

Anze Kopitar, Kings leading scorer (in spite of playing 75 of the 82 games), was greeted by enthusiastic applause by the fans watching training camp. Kopi said it was “a little bit tough to be in the skate for about three hours, but other than that it’s all good.” He said he hasn’t had too much pain and that it’s more uncomfortable than anything else and doesn’t seem to think it’ll affect his skating or play at all. This is definitely good news for Kings fans who had to watch him break his ankle just before the playoffs earlier this year, which was certainly a big factor in the team being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

Dustin Penner looks better than I can remember him looking – ever. He seemed faster and in better shape, which could be a very good sign for Kings fans. Penner, who trained very hard during the off season reduced his body fat percentage by 4%, but would not tell us what his body fat percent is (or was). When asked about being on the ice with Kopi and Williams, he said they probably only got to play in about 6 games together due to the timing of his arrival and Kopi’s injury, but said that “the chemistry came a lot quicker with those two guys.”

Training camps always bring new faces to a team and this year is no exception for the Kings. Mike Richards, Simone Gage, and Trent Hunter seem to be fitting in well with the Kings. In fact, team captain Dustin Brown found himself having to fit in with Richards and Gagne, who know each other’s style of play well.

The Kings’ first pre-season games are split squad games (home and away) against the Coyotes this Wednesday night. I’m not sure which players will be in Staples Center, but hockey returning to LA is always a good thing for the fans. Since it looks like there won’t be a season for the NBA this year, the Kings should find themselves having more Saturday night games than originally scheduled. Most fans I’ve talked to about this change are happy about it. Traffic for 1pm games is always bad for me both ways, so I’m sure the same is true for many fans traveling to Staples Center. SoCal hockey is back! If you have a chance to get out to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, all Kings Training Camp practices are open to the public.

This year was the first time the Kings and Ducks made the playoffs in the same year. Unfortunately for fans of both SoCal teams, the Sharks and Predators knocked out the southern California teams in six games each. Before tonight’s game, I felt pretty strongly that if the Kings weren’t going to win a game in front of their fans and play well in a home game they should have had the decency to lose the series against the Sharks in San Jose. I have to say that after tonight’s performance by the Kings I think it’s good that the Kings gave their fans this game to remember. Their previous playoff games at home in 2011 were horrible performances. The Kings looked terrible in games 3 & 4 once the Sharks pulled Niemi when the Kings started with a 4-0 lead in game three. Tonight, the Kings didn’t win, so clearly their fans didn’t leave happy. However, the Kings played really well and fans were able to leave tonight knowing that their favorite team tried to win the game and closed out the post season playing pretty well.

The performance of the home team at Staples Center in the playoffs so far this year didn’t keep the Kings from selling out Staples Center tonight, but the game was only sold out to the normal capacity (18,118) with no standing room sales. The fans in attendance did see the best home playoff performance the Kings had this year, so it was definitely worth the expense.

Should the Kings have scored on their 5 minute power play? No question. However, the Kings scored two power play goals in the game, which definitely wasn’t common for them. Their power play needs work and it was terrible last year, too. If the Kings don’t think about reorganizing their special teams coaching during the off season, I’ll be pretty stunned. Their penalty kill remained great in the playoffs (perfect on the road and strong at home), but the Kings’ power play was horrible in the regular season and post season.

The Kings had chances to take over this series and beat the Sharks, but didn’t seize their opportunities to succeed. A lot of that is surely due to the mostly young team. They got more playoff experience this year and hopefully that and a reorganization of their power play will help them in 2012. Not capitalizing on the five minute power play is just one time the LA team passed on chances to survive this round of the playoffs. Not scoring on that power play definitely cost the Kings the game, but if they’d scored on many other chances or taken shots on many of their other opportunities, it may not have come down to an overtime situation. Drew Doughty explained that “No one in here wanted to lose today, obviously, and we fully believe we could have won it, that’s why we’re so disappointed.” That’s certainly the most frustrating thing for the Kings’ fans, too. They see the potential of the Kings and wish the team could get to the point where they reach it. Even without Kopitar in the lineup, the Kings matched up well against the Sharks. Maybe that’s a sign that they can really build on what they learned this year and make it farther in the 2012 playoffs. Time will tell… For now, the only California team moving to the next round is the northern California team – the San Jose Sharks.

The Los Angeles Kings are back in 1st place in the NHL (the Flyers were there for a few hours until the end of the Kings game). Before tonight, the Lightning had never lost at Staples Center and their goaltender Mike Smith had never lost a game to the Kings. The Kings had also not lost at home this season (4-0-0). Los Angeles hadn’t started 4-0 at home since the 1988-89 season. Clearly, something had to give tonight – at least one of the streaks had to end. The Lightning & Smith’s streaks gave way as Jonathan Quick stopped all 24 shots he faced (including 3 by NHL leading scorer Steven Stamkos) and extended the Kings’ home winning streak to 5-0-0 so far this season. Jonathan Quick also ended Steven Stamkos’ 7 game point streak.

In spite of the low score, tonight’s game in LA was a lot more exciting than the game the Lightning played in Anaheim last night (where they lost to the Ducks 3-2 in overtime). Tonight’s game had the potential to be one of the best hockey games in the NHL this season. Two of the top teams in the country (who were #1 and #2 in the NHL before any of tonight’s games were played) faced each other for the only time this season. Hockey fans everywhere were interested in this game and it was definitely more exciting than last night’s game. The Kings’ 4th sellout of the season was definitely more full than most of the sellouts in southern California hockey.

Dustin Brown got hit hard into the boards from behind pretty early in the game… not exactly the birthday present he was looking for tonight, but I’m sure the win helped make today a great birthday for the 26-year-old Kings Captain.

The Lightning players were a bit tired after last night’s game in Anaheim, but a great team usually rises to the occasion when facing another great team and the Lightning seemed to have plenty of energy tonight. The Kings had been off for four days, which can also make it difficult to keep energy levels up. They came out with all cylinders firing and looked really good at the start of the game.

The game got very chippy at the end. There had been some tough hits already and Downie clearly wanted to fight someone, but when he went after Doughty Mitchell stepped in. Downie missed, but Mitchell had to send a message. Fans always like to see players sticking up for each other. Things were definitely very chippy near the end of the game, but there were only two fighting penalties in the game (when Mitchell and Downie fought). Things seemed a bit out of control near the end of the game, but no one was seriously injured.

Justin Williams’ goal was the only goal of tonight’s game. It extended his goal streak to tie his career high of four games. His goal was a beautiful goal with a great pass from Smyth to start it off. Williams continued to be the Kings’ best offensive player this season. Williams talked about how important it was to have Drew Doughty, the Kings’ most important defensive player, back tonight and how well Quick played.

Naturally, Jon Quick talked mostly about how great the team in front of him performed and didn’t take much credit for his stellar performance tonight. That’s the kind of guy he is, but Kings fans know how important it is to have a solid goaltender and so do the players on the team.

The Kings host the Predators at Staples Center on Sunday in a fairly rare 7:00 pm start. They’ll try to be the second team this season to start out 6-0-0 at home (the Blues have won all six of their home games this season). The Lightning head to San Jose to face the Sharks on Saturday and try to win at least one game in California on their west coast trip (they’re 1-1-1 in their road trip so far and I’m sure they want to head back to a win before heading home).

Or rather… You wouldn’t recognize the Devils. The New Jersey Devils are off to their worst start in 27 years. I’d never seen their defense look as horrible as I did two days in a row here in southern California. I’ve only been a hockey fan since the late 80’s, so I’d never seen the Devils look this bad. In Anaheim, it was like the Devils and Ducks were playing themselves. Both teams had been built on their strong defense and neither team has much of a defense this season. If their offenses were more in tune, I would have expected a much higher scoring game.

When the Devils signed (and later re-signed) Kovalchuk, they were indicating a commitment to being a more offensive team than defensive, but they haven’t followed through on that and their defense is definitely lacking. They don’t have Scott Stevens or Scott Niedermayer right now. Their current defense isn’t the same. They’re not as difficult to figure out and they handle pucks very poorly in their own end. The Devils are currently ranked last in the NHL again, which is really surprising to me. I didn’t expect them to be as good as they were last year and I figured they’d probably just squeak into the playoffs, but if anyone had told me they’d only win ¼ of their first 12 games, I would have thought they were nuts.

The makeup of the Devils’ team has really changed this season. I was talking to someone Friday night, who said it was strange, since most of the players he saw on the ice didn’t make him think of the Devils. Perhaps that identity crisis ad not knowing if they’re going to be an offensive or defensive team is what’s causing their poor performance.

The Kings are currently number one in the NHL…. It’s definitely good to be a King this season. They’re 4-0-0 at home (one of two teams with a perfect record at home – St. Louis is 5-0-0 at home) and even won their first game back from a long road trip last night. Most people I talked to seemed to think the Kings would be too lifeless in their first game back to even beat the tired Devils (they’d played the night before in Anaheim) who’ve been at or near the bottom of the NHL. I thought they’d pick themselves up to beat the Devils because of honoring Mattias Norstrom before the game and having some of the former players (including fan favorite Ian Laperriere) back for that. Rob Blake’s reception was actuallybetter than most of us expected. I’d say he was cheered by about 75% of the fans and only booed by 25% – it was nice to see that he got a better reception than usual in Staples Center.

The player Kings fans were determined to boo was Ilya Kovalchuk (clearly). Fans may not know the whole story (Kovalchuk himself is probably the only person who really could), but they do know that Kovalchuk chose not to play in their city. Oddly enough, I think the fans should probably be thanking Kovalchuk for not taking the outrageous contract the Kings offered him. It was more than Lombardi wanted to offer Kovalchuk. Lombardi was protecting the Kings’ future and their ability to re-sign the important franchise players like Drew Doughty (who looked good and said he’s feeling okay – he just can’t get up to full speed and still feel okay and the Kings are being careful to make sure he’s fully healthy before his return). Just as the Penguins probably couldn’t have won the Stanley Cup in 2009 with Marian Hossa, signing Kovalchuk would have probably done much more harm than good to the LA Kings who are in first place without Kovalchuk as the Devils sit in last place with him.

The Kings were determined to win again at home, in spite of how the first game back from a long road trip usually goes. Jonathan Quick continued to look great and in control tonight. He’s currently 4th in the NHL for save percentage, which is definitely a huge leap from his performance last season.

The Kings’ next game is Thursday as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning led by Steven Stamkos the number one offensive player in the NHL.

This year’s training camp at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo has a better atmosphere than I’ve seen there. I’ve only followed the Kings closely for about 10 years and in that time I haven’t seen this much depth on the Kings team. This year, the “problem” the Kings face is who to cut, not how to put together a team that can be competitive. That’s the issue every team wants to have. The players at the Kings’ training camp are all playing at such a high level that it makes the camp more enjoyable for everyone. Watching the drills is much more entertaining when the players are executing everything well.

I talked to the players and Coach Murray about the fact that the team seems to be having more fun out there this year than I’ve seen in the past. I thought perhaps it was because they were in the playoffs last year and are expecting to play at a higher level and make the playoffs again. Terry Murray said, “It’s a sign of maturity for a hockey club in my mind” and that the players know the drills and testing they’ll be going through when they arrive at camp, so they’re prepared, more relaxed, and have more fun.

Clearly, line changes happen throughout the pre-season and the season as the coach tries to get their best lines together. However, for the moment Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar are on the first line with Ryan Smyth. They haven’t played together on a line 5 on 5 for a while, but they’ve played on the power play and getting the line chemistry back shouldn’t take long.

The beginning of training camp always seems to be about getting their timing back and for Willie Mitchell, that’s even more the case, since he’s been off the ice with his concussion for a while. He’s also learning the Kings’ system, working with new teammates, a new coaching staff, etc. It’s early, but I thought Willie and Drew Doughty looked pretty good together in practice.

The first Kings’ pre-season game is Wednesday night in Colorado. Their first game at Staples Center this pre-season is the following night when they have split squad games at 7 in Phoenix and hosting Phoenix at 7:30 at Staples Center in LA. I’m sure Thursday’s game in LA will be better attended than any pre-season game in LA for a while. The fans are all very happy to be supporting a more competitive team again.

There’s nothing like jumping right back into hockey mode. This year, the Kings combined Hockey Fest with the start of their Rookie Camp, which worked out perfectly. Though I didn’t see as much of rookie camp as I did last year when I watched every practice the whole day I was there, it was great to be able to go back and forth between the Olympic and covered NHL rink. There was always something to do at the Toyota Sports Center yesterday – from 8am (when they started to let in the fans) until after the pep rally at the end of Hockey Fest.

Hockey Fest started out with the GM State of the Franchise. Normally, the GM Breakfasts are for season ticket holders only, so having one to start Hockey Fest was a nice treat. Of course, the fans asked about the goaltending situation. They also asked if the Kovalchuk deal means the Kings can sign Doughty for 20 years now. That was definitely one of GM Dean Lombardi’s favorite questions. As always, Lombardi was very honest with the fans and interacted with them a lot. Some of the questions asked at this (and the other sessions) came from the LA Kings Facebook page, which they were definitely consciously advertising. I didn’t think to ask if they’re competing with another team to see who can get more Facebook fans.

Since Bob Miller was unable to attend this year’s Hockey Fest, my favorite part of the 2010 Hockey Fest was the Kids Press Conference. The kids get to ask the players questions and though it wasn’t quite as amusing as last year’s session, the kids asked some great questions. Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, Brad Richardson, & Wayne Simmonds entertained the audience as they answered the questions posed.

The other sessions offered for fans were The Life of a King (with Jay Wells, Marty McSorley, and Luc Robitaille answering questions hosted by Jim Fox) and Winning Ways (Ryan Smyth, Justin Wiliams,, Jarret Stoll, & Rob Scuderi answering questions hosted by Nick Nickson). They also had a family skate with Bailey on the Olympic ice rink during a rookie camp break, autograph sessions with the players, and Wayne Simmonds and Drew Doughty playing winning fans at the EA Sports Gaming Area.

It was nice to see the players again and in between the sessions, the players were available for interviews with the media. The most interesting thing I learned during the interviews is that when Willie Mitchell met Drew Doughty for the first time, Drew told Willie he could take his number (Mitchell wore 8 in Vancouver). Mitchell said “I think that speaks volumes of him as a kid.” I couldn’t agree more. Naturally, Mitchell didn’t take Doughty up on his offer. He told Doughty that he had too good of a year last year. When asked about offering Mitchell his number, Doughty said, “Yeah, well, he’s a veteran guy in the league.” He went on to explain that he also likes the number 19, so it wouldn’t have been a big deal to change. Doughty’s gesture wasn’t necessary, but it says a lot about his character. I’d be surprised if Doughty didn’t end up being a team captain (probably of the Kings, since I can’t see them letting him go) in the future. He continues to show his maturity on and off the ice, which explains why one of the questions to Dean Lombardi during the GM breakfast was about signing Doughty to an extremely long contract. Fans definitely want Lombardi to hold on to Doughty. They know he’s special and want to see him on their team for years to come.

Rookie camp is always interesting and it was nice to watch the drills in between Hockey Fest sessions and interviews.

After a full day at Toyota Sports Center with the Kings in El Segundo, I headed to Anaheim Ice (where the Ducks had held their rookie camp earlier in the day) for a friend’s adult league game. (My friend’s team, Five for Fighting, won the game and now has a record of 2-1, 2-0 when I’ve been there.) That game concluded my over twelve hour day of hockey. What a way to kick start hockey season. I hope the Kings continue to hold Hockey Fest at Toyota Sports Center overlapping with Rookie Camp. It was a wonderful day of hockey enjoyed by the many fans in attendance.

Rookie camp continues this week and Training camp starts Saturday, September 18th. Pre-season is just around the corner and the regular season is only a little over 3 weeks away.

Press Box Perspective is now available via iPhone and other mobile devices.

Kovalchuk is staying with the Devils. He’s got a 17 year contract, but we know they don’t expect him to be playing when he’s 44. The Devils just want the annual cap hit to be as low as possible.

Kings fans are surely upset that they can’t order the Kings Kovalchuk jersey they wanted, but they should think about what the signing might have done to the cap space when the young players’ contracts (including Drew Doughty) need to be resigned. The Kings definitely need a bit more power up front and Kovalchuk would have been that. But at what cost? I believe there are other options out there that wouldn’t tie up as much of the Kings’ cap space and may ultimately be a better fit for the team.

Dean Lombardi tried to get Kovalchuk for the Kings, but was unwilling to sacrifice his team’s future for a quick fix. He’s been building this team properly and Kings fans should be happy Lombardi cares enough to spend the time.

It’s good to have the Kovalchuk situation over so everyone can move on to other things. Think of all the time Kovalchuk has given the people who were on full time Kovalchuk rumor watch. I can’t even count the tweets I’ve seen go by in TweetDeck about him this last week. Now, all those tweets can be about other free agents and random rumors.

I’m not saying that Dustin Brown (husband and father of two), Jon Quick (who had been sick and probably wouldn’t have made it to the Opening Ceremonies even if he’d already planned it), Drew Doughty, Michal Handzus, or any of the other players who could have attended the Opening Ceremonies and didn’t have the wrong attitude about the Olympics and I’m not saying that they should have been at the Opening Ceremonies. I guess Jack Johnson just seems to be having more fun with the experience than the other guys. Maybe it’s just that (like me) Jack is really into the Olympics in general and would be watching as much as possible if he wasn’t there. I didn’t ask him that one.

When asked about traveling to Vancouver and back in a short time period (and with a more difficult travel schedule than normal, since he couldn’t get one of the direct flights from LAX to Vancouver), he said “Well, it’s the Opening Ceremonies… I think it’s a no brainer… I had the opportunity. Why waste it? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I’m fortunate enough to play in the next one, it’s in Russia, I can’t just go over and back.” At the end of this, he brings up a very good point, which I asked him about later. Most of the NHL Olympians couldn’t attend the Opening Ceremonies even if they were as interested in doing so as Jack Johnson. They either had games or were on the wrong side of the country (which is true of most NHL teams). This is why I think the NHLPA should go for broke if they end up managing to allow their players to play in the Olympics going forward and get a break that would allow every NHL player to attend the Opening Ceremonies in Russia if they so choose. I think it should be the players’ choice and Jack Johnson (who did take advantage of his opportunity to attend the Opening Ceremonies) agrees. He described the Opening Ceremonies as the “coolest experience I’ve ever had in my life – something I’ll never forget,” so it’s not surprising he thinks the other NHL players in the Olympics should have the same opportunity he had in the future.

He’s planning to meet as many of his fellow Olympians as possible in the Olympic Village and attend as many other events as he can. I’m not sure how much free time he’ll have, since I know from the experience of John Speraw (assistant men’s volleyball coach for the gold medal winning men’s volleyball team in China) that they didn’t get much free time with all the games they played and practices, but I hope Johnson has enough free time to enjoy a few other events while he’s in Vancouver.

Hockey fans everywhere should be happy to hear that when I asked him about the coolest experience he’s had meeting a fellow Olympian so far and who he’s had a chance to meet in his brief time with his fellow American Olympians, Johnson said, “I got to meet Shaun White. He came up and asked me to take a picture with him, which I thought was pretty cool.” He went on to say that he’d met a couple of speed skaters, bobsleders, figure skaters, and that he wants to meet as many other athletes as possible and cheer them on, since that’s part of the Olympic experience and that he knew many of the other members of Team USA would be cheering on Team USA’s ice hockey team.

As a side note, Canada’s women’s ice hockey team makes a good argument for the mercy rule in international ice hockey competition with an 18-0 win over Slovakia. Talk about total domination. I’m looking forward to seeing their other games and hope most of them are a bit more interesting.

A lot of people don’t seem to get why a preseason hockey game in Las Vegas would be so popular. They say it’s expensive and if you really are traveling to Vegas just for the hockey game, they’d be right. If you don’t like Vegas and wouldn’t go there for a weekend every once in a while Frozen Fury is definitely not for you. However, if you have fun in Vegas (gambling, shows, clubs, food, etc.), Frozen Fury is the perfect excuse to spend a weekend in Vegas and have fun while also being able to see a game with their favorite hockey team (Kings or Avalanche). The setting is perfect for fans, since they can just party and have fun while watching their team play. Most fans stay within walking or cab ride distance of the MGM Grand, so they can party with friends (or with the early game this year, even see a show) after the game and then head back to their rooms in the early morning.

I like Vegas and would go there a couple times a year without Frozen Fury, so I always thought Las Vegas was the perfect atmosphere for preseason hockey. The games don’t matter and there’s always a lot of fighting in preseason hockey because of players trying to prove they can be useful. That’s the perfect kind of game for the laid back ambiance in Las Vegas.

The players know the fans love Frozen Fury and they get to have a little fun, too. Unfortunately, (especially for players like Rob Scuderi, who had never been to Las Vegas before this trip) the players don’t get much time to have fun and enjoy Vegas. However, they love the energy of the fans and seem to have fun playing poker with the fans in the Luc Robitaille Celebrity Poker Tournament, which raises money for Echoes of Hope (founded by Luc and Stacia). They may not all be good players, but the Kings seemed happy that the first player knocked out this year was a member of the Avalanche.

This year’s Frozen Fury game had a lower attendance (11,263 announced) than I can remember and a lot more empty seats, but I’m sure that’s due to the economy. Tickets for the game have never been inexpensive and if you live in LA or Denver, travel costs are definitely a factor. Casinos in Las Vegas have all been suffering from fewer guests willing to travel and pay high prices for hotels and shows. It’s not surprising that this affected the preseason game’s attendance. Players who have played in a few Frozen Fury games didn’t notice a difference in the crowd. The MGM Grand Garden Arena is always loud for Frozen Fury and this year was no exception. The fans are dedicated to their teams and make their support known throughout the game.

Fans are also a lot more intermixed than at a normal hockey game, where season ticket holders rarely sell their seats to opposing fans. With fans for the other team all around, fans for both teams seem more willing to loudly support their team, which adds to the different feel of Frozen Fury versus the other preseason games. Frozen Fury is also a good way to get ready for the regular season, which starts Thursday for the NHL, Saturday for the Kings (one of the days this season where all 30 teams play).

The Kings won this year’s Frozen Fury in a fairly dramatic fashion with Kopitar getting the Kings’ first lead at 13:25 of the 3rd period when a penalty shot was called because of the Avs covering the puck in the crease. I was glad to see that penalty called, since it seems to be overlooked fairly frequently. Kopi made the most of the penalty shot and put the Kings in the lead with his second goal of the game. Simmonds made it official with an empty net goal that just beat the buzzer. Frolov & Doughty also scored for the Kings. The Avalanche’s three goals came from Tucker (2) & Wolski.

Los Angeles had three out of town “home” preseason games this year. The others were in Ontario, California (where their ECHL team, the Reign play) and Kansas City where AEG owns another arena.

Fans that enjoy trips to Las Vegas definitely have fun at Frozen Fury and that affects the players on both teams, the energy of the game, and the atmosphere in the arena. Those who don’t like Vegas or have never been to Frozen Fury might not get it, but the fans who do attend love it and are probably happy they have fewer fans competing for tickets (which are already expensive on eBay and Stub Hub from what fans told me).

The Kings went into the All-Star break by getting 5 out of the possible 6 points in their three game road trip, which ended in the mile high city last night as they won their first back-to-back games on consecutive days in over a year (the last time was December 29 & 30, 2007 in Colorado and Chicago). The last time the Kings were in Colorado, the Avalanche beat them 6-1, going ahead 6-0 before Oscar Moller would score the only Kings goal more than half-way through the game. I’m sure the Kings were thinking of that as they faced the Avalanche last night and it seemed to help them get off to a good start. The Kings scored the first goal just 2:14 into the game and started off the 2nd period strong after allowing the Avalanche to tie the game 7:40 into the 1st. Though Kings fans were certainly worried as they watched the Kings give up 3 goals, allowing their 4 goal lead to drop to 1, they had to be happy to see their team hang on to their lead and go home for the All-Star break on a high note.

Since the world figure skating championships are being held at Staples Center in addition to the Grammy Awards, Lakers & Clippers games, and other normal events, the Kings face more away games than their usual high number after the All-Star break. Many have said they think the large number of away games will hurt the young team and they’ll end up at the bottom of the heap. I actually think the time to bond might help the young team and they’ll continue to do better than they did last year (they’re now 13th instead of 15th in the conference and 23rd instead of 29th in the league). I guess we’ll all find out after the All-Star break. At least the Kings and their fans can enjoy watching Drew Doughty in the Young Stars game and their captain Dustin Brown in his first NHL All-Star game thinking of their team ending on a positive note before the break.

Remember that the Kings’ first game after the All-Star break (on Thursday, January 29th against the Chicago Blackhawks) is not being televised on FSN West, so if you want to see that game outside of Staples Center you’ll need access to the Center Ice package to get WGN’s HD coverage of the game.